Serge Lang: A Legend in His Time

Serge Lang was already a legend during his lifetime. Two meters tall, weighing at least one hundred and twenty kilos, with hands like a grizzly, he was a towering figure in the world of skiing. Lang invented the Ski World Cup in 1966 during the World Ski Championships in Portillo, Chile, and served as chairman of the FIS World Cup Committee for many years. He also reported on major cycling races and ski competitions for leading European newspapers, wielding immense influence over federations, committees, and beyond. Virtually nothing happened without his blessing.

Lang, an Alsatian who grew up in Basel, was also a bon vivant. During the various stages of the Ski World Cup, he would often commandeer a helicopter, stay exclusively in luxury hotels, and enjoy feasting in good company. We young journalists of the 70s and 80s benefited from his knowledge and connections in many ways, not least in his all-important choices of hotels and restaurants.

Lang always had the red Michelin Guide on hand for almost every country. He would never have visited a restaurant that wasn’t listed there, and certainly wouldn’t have stayed in a hotel that hadn’t been awarded the famous red and black houses by the Michelin testers. He preferred five red ones – the maximum rating. Those who wanted to play it safe and avoid disappointments simply followed Serge. His love of the red Michelin Guide was contagious, and soon, we found ourselves unable to travel to Spain, Italy, France, Scandinavia, the USA, or anywhere else without the book. We could rely on the ratings, whether for hotels or restaurants, and rarely experienced any disappointments.

When the first red Michelin Guide for Switzerland was published almost thirty years ago, we naturally scrutinized it closely – and were not disappointed. The book quickly established itself as the bible of all hotel and restaurant guides in the country. For restaurants, it will likely remain so. But for hotels? That’s another, sadder chapter.

The decline began insidiously three years ago with the last printed edition of the red Michelin Switzerland, when the selection of tested and recommended hotels was suddenly drastically reduced. In 2021, Michelin abandoned the Swiss edition of the book entirely for the first time, citing the coronavirus and the company’s new digital strategy. To the bewilderment of the industry, Michelin also stopped testing and rating hotels altogether, focusing solely on restaurants. Those seeking hotel recommendations were directed to the Internet portal TabletHotels, with which Michelin had been collaborating for a few years.

TabletHotels? If you searched for a hotel in Bad Ragaz on this portal, you might be directed to hotels in Lindau, Vaduz, or Nonnenhorn on Lake Constance. The Park Hyatt in Zurich, which opened almost fifteen years ago, was described as „brand new.“ The fact that the Pavillon restaurant in Zurich’s Baur au Lac had long held two Michelin stars, not just one, went unnoticed by TabletHotels. The same applied to the Ecco restaurant in the Giardino Mountain in St. Moritz-Champfèr. TabletHotels also missed that the Hotel Le Richemond in Geneva had long since closed.

Meanwhile, the Kameha Grand in Zurich, which had been removed from the red guide years ago and had long since lost its star, reappeared on TabletHotels. The commentary on the Kameha astonishingly stated that the hotel was still in its „opening phase,“ despite being open for ten years. There was no mention of the Suvretta House and Kempinski hotels in St. Moritz. The list of errors and omissions was endless, and it’s hardly any better today.